Committed to providing the very best care for residents living with dementia, New Care, a development-led and fast growing care home operator, has installed a Tovertafel ('magic table') in each of its four care facilities.
The cutting-edge Dutch technology is highly innovative, designed and developed specifically for those living with mid to late stage dementia. The light projection games are fun, stimulating and encourage social interaction. They create treasured moments of happiness for residents, family and carers, as well as encouraging movement and improving hand and eye co-ordination.
Cath Fairhurst, chief operating officer at New Care, comments: “The Magic Tables have proved to be hugely popular in all of our care homes, so much so, that we now consider their location within each and every facility under construction as part of the build process.
“We have seen residents who typically shy away from our daily activities sit for hours and play, while other residents delight in showing their grandchildren how to play the games when they come to visit.
“At Ashlands Manor in Sale, we host monthly visits from a local day nursery, and our residents often play on the Magic Table alongside the three and four years olds, which highlights just how incredible the technology is.”
The Magic Table is a box mounted to the ceiling above a large dining room style table. Within the box is a projector, infrared sensors, speaker and processor that work together to project a menu of games onto the table. The colourful objects within each game respond to hand and arm movements, so residents play with the light itself.
From flying kites, moving leaves and playing with beach balls to splatting paint, popping bubbles, catching fish and playing puzzles, there are plenty of games to entertain the residents, each supported by soft and relaxing background sounds.
John Ramsay, the CEO of Shift 8 Limited – the company which brought the Tovertafel to the UK, says: “Tovertafel allows you to interact with your loved ones and we are delighted by the response from New Care. The reaction from the residents across the homes has been incredibly moving and we can’t wait to see how they continue to develop, with new moments of happiness being created every day.”
